Water pump



April 23, 1935. H. FORD WATER PUMP Filed Oct. 1, 1952 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 23, 1935 1,998,611 WATER PUMP Henry Ford, Dearborn, Mich, assig'nor to Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Mich, a corporation of Delaware Application October 1, 1932, Serial No. 635,713, 1 Claim. (Cl. 103-103) The object of my invention is to provide a water pump of simple, durable and inexpensive construction.

More specifically, the object of my invention 6 is to provide a water pump'especially suitable for use in circulating the cooling medium in internal-combustion engines from the engine cylinder head to the radiator associated therewith.

, Still a further object of my invention is to provide a water circulating pump which may be secured to the front end of an engine cylinder block so as to extend forwardly therefrom and which will be driven directly from the fan belt of the engine. A feature of great importance in 16 connection with this pump is that the overall length thereof is exceptionally short so as to reduce the overall length of the engine unit. This is a feature particularly desirable when used in connection with automotive vehicles, as the shortening of the length of the engine, if only a few inches, allows a corresponding increase in .the foot room available in the vehicle.

Still a further object of my invention is to provide a water pump wherein a non-metallic disc takes the place of the ordinary packing to thereby operate for the life of the car without adjustment. A feature which makes it possible to use such a disc is incorporated in this pump and comprises a resilient cork ring disposed around the pump shaft, which ring is resiliently urged against the watersealing disc. This cork ring performs the dual function of preventing water from seeping along the shaft and also urges the disc axially over its full periphery to thereby insure perfect contact between the disc and the coacting face of the pump. As the pump shaft, watersealing disc and cork ring rotate in unison, no wear results due to operation of the pump.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the arrangement, construction, and combination of the various parts of my improved device, as described in the specification, claimed in my claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 shows a vertical, central, sectional view through my improved pump and the associated portion of the automobile engine cylinder head.

Figure 2 shows a sectional view taken on the line 2--2 of Figure l. 4

Figure 3 shows a side view of the spiral compression spring which is used to maintain the waterseal in this pump, and

Figure 4 is a plan view of my waterseal washer.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, I have used the reference numeral III to indicate the cylinder head of an engine, said head having a water passageway in the forward end thereof around which a vertical flange is machined. My improved pump comprises a body portion ll having a flange I 2 formed thereon through which a plurality of bolts I3 extend so as to secure the body over the front'end of the cylinder head I0. It will be noticed from Figure 1 of the drawing that the forward face of the body II is provided with a pair of axially aligned bosses 28 in which a pair of bushings H are inserted. The housing is cast with an oil chamber l5 disposed between the bosses 28 and a suitable fitting I 6 is screwed into the body ll so that the chamber l5 may be kept supplied with lubricant.

A shaft I 1 is rotatably mounted in the bushings l4 and projects outwardly from each end thereof and the hub portion of a pulley I8 is secured to the forward end of this shaft. It will be noted that the web of the pulley I8 is formed as a cylin- 30 der considerably larger than the adjacent boss 28 and that a sheet-metal cup member I9 is pressed into this cylindrical portion of the pulley. A felt ring 20 is retained by the cup member IS in contact with the periphery of the boss 28. The purpose of the felt ring 20 is to provide an oil seal to prevent oil from working up through the outer bushings l4 and being thrown radially by the pulley la.

The inner ends of the shaft IT projects an inch or more beyond the inner bushings l4 and a phenol-condensate washer 2| is loosely disposed around this shaft abutting the smooth face of the inner boss 28. Just beyond this washer 2| I have provided a cork ring 22 closely fitted on the shaft and beyond the ring 22 I have provided a metallic washer 23. A helical spring 24 is mounted upon the shaft beyond the washer 23 and an impeller rotor 25 is fixedly secured to the extreme end of the shaft. The impeller 40 is of cup shape and is cast with three vanes 26 extending from its periphery whereby upon rotation of the shaft I! water will be drawn from the cylinder head and forced through an outlet passageway 21 formed in the housing II.

A novel feature of this device is that the washer 2| is formed with four ears 29 projecting therefrom, as shown in Figure 4, which ears coact with correspondingly shaped keyways 30 cast in the interior of the cup-shaped impeller. Thus, this washer will be positively rotated by the impeller so that the sliding joint which maintains the waterseal is always between the washer 2| and the face of the adjacent boss 28.

From Figure 3 will be noted that the large end of the spring 24 is adapted to bear against the periphery of the washer 23 while the small end bears against the hub of the impeller. The cork ring 22 is thereby compressed between the washers 2| and 23 so as to intimately fit the shaft l1 and the cylindrical bore in the impeller. Thus, leakage of water at the cork ring washer 2| or seeping along the shaft I1 is prevented. Inasmuch as the shaft cork ring 22, washers 2| and 23, and impeller 25 all rotate as a unit, no wear develops on the cork ring.-

The purpose of the driving cars 29 and cork ring 22 is primarily to form a universal driving connection between the washer 2| and the shaft II. If the washer 2| were fixedly secured to the shaft, then it would extend radially at all times to the axis of the shaft so that if for any reason the axis of the shaft became misaligned with the axis of the boss 28 then, regardless of the spring pressure on the washer, only one portion of the washer would bear against the adjacent face of the boss and so allow water to enter between the washer and the boss around the remaining portion of the periphery of the-washer. Such misalignment is unavoidably caused by wear on the bushings l4.

Due to the radial thrust on the driving pulley resulting from the use of a belt drive, the outer bushing I4 wears considerably more than the inner bushing so that gradually the axis of the shaft l1 becomes angularly offset from the axis of the bushings I4. While this misalignment usually is only a few minutes of arc, still it is sufficient so that if the washer 2| were fixedly secured to the shaft then leakage of water would invariably occur. However, with my improved pump this misalignment is compensated for by the resiliency of the cork ring 22 so that as the shaft rotates the washer 2| is resiliently urged against the abutting surface of the boss 28 around its full periphery. A watertight seal between the washer 2| and the housing is thus maintained over the full life of the pump even though the shaft I! may have become angularly offset from the axis of the pump. It should be understood that although I have shown and described the ring 22 as being formed of cork, I do not desire to limit my claim to this particular material as other substances work quite efficiently.

The feature which is believed to contribute most to the success of this pump is that the pump shaft is universally connected to the washer 2| so that misalignment between the axis of the shaft and the pump housing will not cause the I should last for the life of the vehicle. Further,

the elimination of the use of packing and its periodical adjustment and replacement is an especially desirable feature. Still further, because of the elimination of the pump packing, the device is exceptionally short in length, there by reducing the overall length of engines equipped with this pump.

Some changes may be made in the arrangement, construction, and combination of the various parts of my improved device without departing from the spirit of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claim, such changes as may reasonably be included within the scope thereof.

I claim as my invention:

A pulley-driven fluid pump construction comprising, a housing having a pair of axially spaced bearing bosses formed in opposite sides thereof with that portion of the housing which is located between said bearing bosses comprising an oil reservoir, a shaft 'rotatably mounted in said bosses with its center portion exposed to the oil in said reservoir, an impeller fixed on one end of said shaft, a fluid sealing member disposed between the said impeller and the outer end of the adjacent bearing boss so that the fluid pumped by the impeller will be prevented from entering said oil chamber and so that oil in said chamber will be prevented from seeping out from around the impeller bearing, a pulley fixed on the end of said shaft opposite said impeller in position adjacent to the outer end of other bearing boss, said last mentioned bearing boss having a smooth cylindrical exterior surface, an annular sheet metal member secured to the inner side of said pulley and in axial alignment therewith, said sheet metal member having a bore therein which fits over said cylindrical exterior surface, and having its periphery coacting with said pulley to form an annular internal groove around said cylindrical surface, and an annular oil absorbing member disposed in said. 

